"Pieces of the Island"-An English Translation

Antonio Pupo Caballero

This past Sunday August 12th 2012, 9 Ladies in White in the city of Holguin did not let their violent arrests at the hands of political police and State Security agents keep them from carrying out their habitual Sunday march towards the local Jesus Christ Redeemer of Men Catholic Church.

Zuleidis Perez Velazquez, member of the women’s group and resident of Holguin, was one of the 14 detainees taken into custody in a “very violent” manner. She adds that they were all “distributed throughout the province of Holguin, to different National Revolutionary Police Units, as if we were some sort of baggage. It was not until 12 PM that we were taken out of the units in cop cars, State Security vehicles, and buses. We were left in different points of Holguin, from 4 to 10 kilometers away from our homes“.

Their were reports of arrests of three other male dissidents, Alexei Jiménez, Rolando Sánchez Duran and Luis Miguel Carralero, who also try to assist Mass each Sunday “because they are Catholics and members of the Church, and also morally show their support for us, the Ladies in White. Police agents have been arresting them each Sunday when they try to leave their homes, and they are usually taken to different and undisclosed locations“.

On the day before- Saturday August 11th- Perez Velazquez denounced that there were other arrests in Holguin: Marcos Limas Dalmao (husband of Adisnidia Cruz Segreo), Luis Manuel Gonzalez and Antonio Pupo Caballero.

However, Zuleidis explained that two women- Lisbeth Peña Hernández and Liliana Campo– managed to make it inside the church in Holguin, where they participated in Mass and then marched with their white clothes and flowers. As soon as the other 14 women were released, 9 of them were able to carry out their march successfully, defying the repressive forces.

“Despite all these setbacks, 9 of us Ladies in White were able to meet up after they released us, at around 1 pm, and managed to carry out our peaceful march on the same street where the church is located“, said Perez Velazquez, “this was something that our oppressors were not expecting, but we achieved it. They must be infuriated, but so they and the rest of the world know: we are not going to stop. Regardless of the detentions, the repression, and the beatings we are subjected to each and every Sunday, we are not going to stop. We are not taking steps back in this peaceful struggle“.